Planting Broccoli, How to Grow Broccoli, Tips for Growing Broccoli

Best easy methods for planting broccoli when home gardening. Learn tips and ideas for growing healthy broccoli plants in a backyard vegetable garden.

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In most parts of the country, the time for planting broccoli is mid to late summer to enjoy a fall harvest. Premium Crop is a favorite pick of many seasoned vegetable gardeners. Emperor is a well-liked variety among Northeast growers. Although, the hot, dry dog days of summertime can reduce, slow, and sometimes prevent germination. If you have experienced a difficult time starting broccoli, try planting broccoli under boards. The plants will shoot up so fast; you may mistake them for weeds! Follow these 3 simple steps:

How to Grow Broccoli

* Dig a shallow 2 inch deep trench. Line it with well aged compost.

* Scatter broccoli seeds in the trench. Cover the seeds shallowly with compost. Water the soil thoroughly. Lay boards across the trench.

* Check under the lumber everyday after planting broccoli. Remove the planks as soon as you see the pale yellow seedlings coming up. You can plant the seeds thickly and then thin the plants after the boards have been removed.

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Vegetable Gardening Tips for Broccoli

* Unexpected warm spells cause broccoli heads to open too soon. On the other hand, prolonged periods of nights near 30 degrees F and days ranging in the 50s to 60s can produce tiny, immature heads called buttons. Use row covers during cool weather.

* Top-dress with manure tea or side-dress with fish emulsion several weeks after planting broccoli. Water deeply. Repeat monthly until a week prior to harvesting.

* When daytime temperatures exceed 75 degrees F, apply a thick layer of organic mulch.

* Provide over 1-½ of water a week or your spring crops will have tough stems. Fall crops require steady but slightly less water.

* Harvest before the florets start to open and turn yellow. Cut just below the point where the stems begin to separate. Once the main head is harvested, pick the sideshoots that form in the leaf axils and along the lower stalk.

Continuous Harvesting of Broccoli Plants

Harvesting sideshoots after cutting the main head from broccoli plants gives you greater yields per plant. When planting broccoli, regenerate your plants to keep producing for several growing seasons using the following method:

* Harvest broccoli as usual. When a plant becomes unproductive, cut it back and allow suckers to grow from the stump.

* When suckers are 4 or 5 inches in length, select one to be regenerated. The one nearest the base of the growing broccoli plant is usually the best choice. Anchor the sucker to the ground with a wire hook so that approximately 4 inches of stem is lying horizontally, touching the soil. Remove the other suckers from the stump.

* After the anchored sucker grows 6 or 7 inches, cut the stump back to just above the point where the sucker emerges. You can now either remove the wire hook or leave it in place.

* Mound soil over the stump and the anchored sucker. This helps decrease the chance of disease at the wound site and encourages new roots to form on the plant.

* Allow plenty of time for the stump wound to heal before damp, cold weather arrives. Discard flower shoots that form as the plant overwinters and begins to go to seed. The following spring, prune back the plant, and begin the entire process again.

Using this technique requires good air circulation and an area free of debris. The secret to this planting procedure is the crook created in the plant's stem by anchoring the sucker. The crook stimulates growth of new suckers along the horizontal stem.

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Planting Broccoli to Vegetable Gardening

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